About Me

I want people to rise up, speak up, and woman up. "Liberty and justice for all"- that's my dream for America in my lifetime.
(Also- I don't capitalize when I blog- not out of contempt for the practice, just my little act of personal liberation.)

I want to shine a spotlight on just a few of the innumerable examples of worldwide violence, senseless discrimination, and systematic abuse of women. I believe increased awareness can lead to action and change.

3.22.2009

double jeopardy

"women in American uniforms who are enduring all the stresses related to serving in a combat zone have to also worry about defending themselves against rapists wearing the same uniform and lining up in formation right beside them."

of course, rape is The Great Shame of our whole world, if you ask me. but the fact that those who have dedicated their lives to the protection of our nation (and other nations for that matter), are afforded no protection themselves, is certainly an irony worth attention.

rape is not a crime of sex, it's a crime of power. in the very best case scenario, a woman's life can be ruined as a result of rape, and coming forward is nearly as traumatizing as experiencing the assault itself. but military women are not only raped, they are silenced and threatened as a part of S.O.P. it's an outrage. but as the article above notes, the military is "an ultra-macho environment in which the overwhelming tendency has been to see all women — civilian and military, young and old, American and foreign — solely as sexual objects."

1 comment:

You know, the more I read about this, the more I wonder if this wasn't what my friend Dennis was talking about when he repeatedly - REPEATEDLY - told me not to ever consider entering the military. It's not a good place for women, he would say. He never said it's NO PLACE for women, he said it's not a GOOD place for women. Makes me wonder what he was aware of but couldn't talk about. Makes me glad he got out when he did.